List of alternative shells for Windows explained

This is a list of software that provides an alternative graphical user interface for Microsoft Windows operating systems. The technical term for this interface is a shell. Windows' standard user interface is the Windows shell; Windows 3.0 and Windows 3.1x have a different shell, called Program Manager. The programs in this list do not restyle the Windows shell, but replace it; therefore, they look and function differently, and have different configuration options.

Shell											Development status
									10	11
Cairo Shell											^[1]
Emerge Desktop
Program Manager II
ReactOS Explorer											^[2] ^[3] ^[4]
SharpEnviro
Talisman Desktop											^[5] ^[6]

See also

• Comparison of Start menu replacements for Windows 8
• Comparison of X Window System desktop environments
• Desktop environment
• History of the graphical user interface
• Microsoft Bob
• Removal of Internet Explorer

External links

• Web site: Windows XP Embedded – Different Shells for Different Users . Liming . Sean . August 2003 . . . 15 November 2011.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cairo Shell Homepage. Cairo Development Team. 25 May 2024. 30 May 2020.
2. Web site: ReactOS Explorer. ReactOS Project. 16 May 2014.
3. Web site: ReactOS Explorer source code. ReactOS Project. 25 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170708041730/https://svn.reactos.org/svn/reactos/trunk/reactos/base/shell/explorer/. 8 July 2017. dead.
4. Web site: Fuchs. Martin. ReactOS Explorer (original author, details). 16 May 2014.
5. Web site: Talisman Desktop. LightTek Software. 15 July 2016.
6. Web site: Talisman Desktop News, no updates since Aug 15, 2011. LightTek Software. 15 July 2016.